Laundry deposit apparatus



April 26, 1960 R. L. EATON LAUNDRY DEPOSIT APPARATUS Filed March 11, 1957 A .4 2 fl 4 .9 wv wn F o m w z k 5 u. f M 7 6 g 2 7 a H a m 4 ou 4F Pa 6 M m M w 2 f IE.

INVEN TOR. Rota! 1. [0100 WWW ATTOIK/EK Unitfi [S ates Patent LAUNDRY DEPOSIT APPARATUS Robert L. Eaton, Oklahoma City, Okla.

Application March 11, 1957, Serial No. 645,312

1 Claim. (Cl. 232-44) This invention relates to an improved laundry deposit apparatus for use by commercial laundries and the like when an attendant is not on duty at the laundry.

Commercial laundries find it convenient to have some means for receiving clothes, etc., from their customers at night, and on week-ends and the' like, without the necessity of maintaining an employee at the laundry during these times. At the present time, some laundries have provided a laundry deposit slot in the door or front wall of the laundry building where the customers can merely drop their bundles of clothes inside the building when the laundry is closed. The slots are normally closed by a hinged door, and the customer merely swings open the door and forces his bundle through the deposit slot. It will be apparent that with this type of construction, clothing can also be removed through the slot and stolen without the thief having to spend any great length of time or raising much commotion to attract policemen and passers-by. Some laundries have installed a chute extending inwardly from the door or wall immediately below the laundry deposit slot to transport the deposited clothes some distance into the building away from the door or wall. However, a thief can still either reach through the slot and beyond the end of the chute, or use some contraption to reach in through the slot and steal.

the deposited clothes. Also, vandals frequently throw lighted cigarettes in through the laundry deposit slot and chutes which set the deposited clothes on fire.

The present invention contemplates an apparatus which may be installed in the door or wall of a laundry build-v ing or the like to receive a customers bundle of clothes when opened by the customer.

apparatus and the bundle is deposited inside of the building. When the apparatus is open, access to clothing previously deposited through the apparatus is prevented by the combination of a chute extending upwardly at an angle and a guard plate which swings into the chute to prevent entry through the chute. The guard plate is in such a position that a person cannot reach through the apparatus in either an open or partially open position of the apparatus. I also provide a novel roller in the chute which will catch lighted cigarettes and the like, but will not prevent the movement of deposited laundry through the chute.

An important object of this invention is to provide a burglar-proof laundry deposit apparatus for use by commercial laundries when no one is inattendance at the laundry.

A further object of this invention is to provide a laundry deposit apparatus which may be easily installed in a door or wall of a commercial laundry in such a manner that the apparatus cannot be removed from the door or wall without a substantial amount of work and time, thereby preventing removal of the apparatus by thieves or vandals.

A further object of this invention is to provide an After the bundle has. been placed in the apparatus, the customer closes the.

attractive laundry deposit apparatus which will enhance the appearance of the building in which it is used.

Another object of this invention is to provide a laundry deposit apparatus which is protected from leakage of rain therethrough, and which will prevent the entrance of lighted cigarettes and the like through the apparatus.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a laundry deposit apparatus which is simple in construction and may be economically manufactured.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be evident from the following detailed description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate my invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of my laundry deposit apparatus showing the apparatus in a closed position.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 illustrating the apparatus in an open position.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of- 8. In use, the body 8 is installed in a correspondingly-- shaped opening in a door or wall (not shown). When it is desired to install the apparatus 6 in a glass paneled door, as is usually the case, the opposite ends 18 of the body 8 are bent to form flanges which may be bolted to the opposite sides of the door. In this event, of course, the body 8 will be of a length to extend beyond the edges of the glass in the door. facing channel members 12 and 14 are secured on the upper and lower ends, respectively, of the body 8 to receive upper and lower glass panels of the door in which the apparatus 6 is installed. The channel members 12 and 14 may be secured to the body 8 in any suitable manner which will inhibit the disassembly of the body 8 from the members 12 and 14. I prefer to construct the various parts of the apparatus 6 out of a sheet metal' material and secure the various fixed portions together.

by spot welding.

conform to the contour of the curved walls which are sometimes used in commercial laundries.

As shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, a rectangularly-shaped slot 16 is provided in the central portion of the body 8 to loosely receive a chute 18. The chute 18 has only a solid bottom wall 19 and side walls 28 which are tapered, that is, progressively increase in height, from the inner end 22 of the chute 18 toward the outer end of the chute Thus, the top of the chute 18 is open to receive a guard plate 24 when the chute 18 is pivoted with respect to the body 8, as will be more fully hereinafter set forth. The

guard plate 24 is of a length to extend closely to the side Walls 28 of the chute 18 as is illustrated in Fig. 2. Also, the guard plate 24- is of a height slightly less than theheight of the slot 16 in the body 8. -The upper edge ofthe plate 24 is pivotedly secured to the body at the upper edge of the slot 16 by a pair of hinges 26 to permit a pivoting movement of the plate 24 through the chute 18 and the slot 16. The opposite ends of the plate 24, at the lower edge portion of the plate, are pivotedly secured to an intermediate portion of the side walls by links 28. Each link 28 is suitably pinned to the guard plate 24 and the respective side wall 20 to provide a pivoting move- Patented Apr. 26, 1960,

Upwardly and downwardly.

. 3 ment of the guard plate 24 with respect to the chute 18 when the chute is moved lengthwise.

A front piece or door 38 is rigidly secured to the for ward end of the chute 18 and is of a size to cover the slot 16 when the chute 18 is in a closed position. As will be observed in Fig. 3, the front piece 30 is secured at an angle tothe bottom wall 19 of the chute 18, wherehandle for manipulation of the door 30 and chute 18.

Also, I prefer to secure a flange 36 on the outer face of the body 8 directly above the flange portion 34 of the door 30 to prevent the entrance of rain through the door when the apparatus is in a closed position. As will be observed in Figs. 1 and 2, the opposite ends of the rain protecting flange 36 may be extended downwardly around the upper portion of the door 38 to enhance protection against rain.

In operation, a customer merely grasps the handle portion 34 of the door 38 and pulls downwardly and outwardly to move the door 38 from the position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig. 4. Upon movement of the door 58, the chute 18 will be pivoted counterclockwise (when viewed as shown in the drawings) and moved partially out through the slot 16. In the course of this movement, the chute 18 will be moved from a position extending downwardly to a position extending upwardly as illustrated in Fig. 4. Also, the links 28 pivot the guard plate 24 in a clockwise direction on the hinges 26 to move the guard plate 24 downwardly into the chute 18 and into the slot 16. In the lower position of the guard plate 24 as illustrated in Fig. 4, the guard plate prevents anyone from reaching through the slot 16 and the chute 18. In other words, the guard plate 24, in combination with the chute 18, effectively closes the slot 16. The open position of the apparatus 6, as illustrated in Fig. 4, may be regulated by suitable stops 38 secured on the outer side of the chute side walls 20. The stops 38 contact rearwardly extending flanges 40 on the body 8 to limit outward movement of the chute 18 and door 30.

With the apparatus 6 in an open position, the customer merely deposits his laundry bundle on the door 30 between the outer end portion of the chute side walls 20. If desired, a pencil and pad (not shown) may be conveniently secured to the outer face of the guard plate 24, whereby the customer can make a laundry list or write suitable notes to the laundry operator. After depositing the laundry on the door 30, the customer merely closes the door 38 back to its position as illustrated in Fig. 3. The chute 18 is thereby moved clockwise through the slot 16 to again extend downwardly as illustrated in Fig. 3. Simultaneously, the links 28 pivot the guard plate 24 counter-clockwise on the hinges 26 to raise the guard plate and open the chute 18. It will be observed that the links 28 are sufficiently long to raise the guard plate 24 above the side walls 20 of the chute when the appa-v ratus is in a closed position; therefore, the laundry previously deposited in the outer end of the chute 18 will slide freely down the chute and off of the inner end 22. It will also be observed that the inner end 22 of the chute 18 is turned downwardly to prevent the deposited laundry from catching on the inner end of the chute when the laundry slides off of the chute.

To prevent vandals from burning deposited clothes and the like by opening the door 30 and throwing lighted cigarettes through the chute 18, I prefer to secure a small tube or pipe 42 transverse in the inner end portion of the chute 18. The pipe 42 may be easily secured to the opposite side walls 20 of the chute 18 by means of a suitable rod 44, with the lower portion of the tube 42 substantially in contact with the bottom wall of the chute 18. The tube 42 should be secured for rotation about its longitudinal axis. Therefore, when laundry bundles slide down the chute 18 toward the inner end 22, the bundles will slide on over the tube 42 and will not catch on the tube. However, when a small object, such as a lighted cigarette, rolls down the chute 18, it will catch on the side of the tube 42 and not fall off of the inner end 22 of the chute 18 onto other laundry which may have been previously deposited through the apparatus. Thus, lighted cigarettes thrown in through the chute 18 will be trapped by the tube 42 and will go out before a new batch of laundry is deposited through the apparatus.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the present invention provides a burglar-proof laundry deposit apparatus. By use of this invention, laundry can be safely deposited in a commercial laundry at night or at any other time an attendant is not on duty at the laundry. The apparatus is simply opened, the laundry deposited therein, and then the apparatus is closed to complete the deposit of bundles of laundry into the laundry building. When the apparatus is open, access through the laundry deposit slot is effectively prohibited to prevent thieves from reaching through the apparatus and stealing previously deposited laundry. Also, the various parts of the apparatus which are rigidly secured together may be easily secured in such a manner that the apparatus cannot be easily removed or torn down by burglars or vandals.

Changes may be made in the combination and arrangement of parts or elements as heretofore set forth in the specification and shown in the drawings without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claim. 1

I claim:

A laundry deposit apparatus, comprising a plate-like body for installation in a substantially vertical position in a wall or the like, said body having a slot therethrough, a door hinged to the body below said slot and being of a size to close said slot, a chute secured to the door in a position to extend through said slot, said chute having side walls and being open along its top, a plate pivotally secured to the body above said slot on the side of the body opposite the door, said plate having a width less than the width of the chute, and links pivotally secured to the plate and to the side walls of the chute at an intermediate portion of the chute for moving the plate into a blocking position in the chute when the door is opened, and, alternately, into a position above the chute when the door is closed over said slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,275,136 Nobili Aug. 6, 1918 1,632,536 Breen June 14, 1927 FOREIGN PATENTS 286,530 Great Britain Mar. 8, 1928 

